Bryan Danielson on why he decided to make the jump to AEW

Bryan Danielson could have gone anywhere, but he chose All Elite Wrestling. Ahead of AEW Dynamite Grand Slam, Bryan Danielson sat down with Chris Mueller of Bleacher Report to discuss all things All Elite Wrestling.

When asked why he chose AEW over WWE, Danielson admitted that there was no simple answer to the question. But the idea of wrestling in AEW seemed like a lot of fun to him.

"There's no simple answer," Bryan Danielson said. "It's mostly because it just seemed like a lot of fun. And, yeah, I was kind of looking for something different. When you're in the same place for a long period of time, sometimes you just need a change of scenery. And at the end of the day, that was kind of what might have tipped it over the edge. I mean, there were so many other factors, but there were so many factors that went both ways. Like, 'OK, if this were the case, I would have never left or if that...' you know, that sort of thing. So there were myriad of factors that kind of went into it. It's complex."

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Leaving WWE was hard for Bryan Danielson

The decision to leave WWE for AEW wasn't easy for Danielson. But he feels the next few years of his career are best suited in AEW as they will allow him to go as hard as he can.

"It was really hard, actually," Bryan Danielson continued. "Because not only do I have so many friends and people that I love there, but I legitimately have family there... I feel like the next several years of my career are probably going to be the best version of me that I've got. And then after that, because my body feels great right now, then you're starting to get like 43, 44, 45. So I want to be able to use these next couple of years to be able to go as hard as I can. And I think the best place to do that is AEW now."

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Are you surprised that Bryan Danielson chose to sign with AEW? Do you think he'll eventually return to WWE someday? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.